1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for aiding escape of passengers to the outside of a vehicle if the vehicle comes into collision.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus has been known (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-139246) which detects stop of a vehicle and interruption of an engine, when the vehicle has come into collision, so as to unlock doors and release seat belts.
Another apparatus has been known (refer to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-51267) which unlocks a child safety lock when the vehicle has come into collision. Note that the child safety lock is an apparatus for permitting the door to be opened only from the outside of the vehicle in order to prevent an accident that the door is unintentionally opened by a child.
Recently, vehicles are equipped with a power window, a sun roof, a trunk opener and an automatic driving position system in order to improve safety, enhance operation facility and realize comfortableness. The power window is an apparatus for moving the door windows by actuators so that the windows are opened/closed in accordance with the operations of corresponding switches. The sun roof is an apparatus for causing an actuator to move a sun roof lid disposed in the ceiling of the vehicle to open/close the sun roof lid in accordance with the operations of corresponding switches. The trunk opener is an apparatus for causing an actuator to move the trunk lid to open/close the trunk lid in accordance with the operations of corresponding switches. The automatic driving position system is an apparatus for moving the driver's seat rearwards and tilting up and contracting the steering wheel when the driver on the driver's seat gets off the vehicle to facilitate getting in and out of the vehicle. Moreover, after the driver gets in the vehicle, the automatic driving position system restores the seat and the steering wheel to the previously stored positions.
The vehicle equipped with the foregoing units are required to have a total system including a conventional unit for unlocking the door locks, the child safety lock and releasing the seat belts and an apparatus for aiding escape of the passengers when the vehicle has come into collision.